GET THE APP | SPICERADIO 1200

South Asian Advertising: Wooing and Winning the Loyal Customer

Everyone wants a loyal customer. Winning a loyal customer means repeat business. This translates into a higher return on investment (ROI) for your advertising and marketing dollars, but who are these people? What do they look like?

According to IPG Mediabrands, marketers and ad agencies still have few resources about how different audiences react to a brand. The IPG Mediabrands report, released in 2016, looks specifically at the attitudes and media habits of two of Canada’s fastest growing populations—Chinese and South Asians. According to the results, South Asians seem to be the market to target for those who are pursuing that elusive beast—the brand loyalist.

According to the study, South Asians relate differently to brands than the general Canadian population. The most important distinctions were:

64% of South Asians tend to buy based on quality instead of price, compared to 54% of the general Canadian population and

58% of South Asian consumers consider themselves very brand loyal, compared to 44% of the general population.

Another significant statistic is that both groups rely on advertising to learn about new products, especially when they first arrive in this country. Additionally, 38% of the South Asian population reported feeling closer to organizations that choose to advertise in their own ethnic language.

This is a huge departure from the commonly held belief that you could reach all markets by advertising in English. Although 95% of South Asians have a full understanding of English, they still notice companies and organizations that make an effort to reach out to them using the medium of language.

The report concludes that both Chinese and South Asians have a significant reliance on advertising. Therefore, it’s quite likely that the effort of reaching out to these groups will pay off—as good, solid repeat business.